South Side Hit Men

I’m really surprised they are even pitching to Abreu here. Jose made them pay.

No cents, but it does allow Jerry to hang onto travel dollars.

Did the Sox announce any bullpen pitchers as restricted/unavailable today? Primarily thinking Hendriks, beyond Kopech who was placed on the DL. Billy had that base stolen.

James Fegan @JRFegan Cleveland fans banging the back wall of the left field bleachers in the absence of the drum guy is some real “life finds a way” stuff

Awesome DP!

Tony flashes the no ouchies sign. Tim ran through it.

Someone needs to tell Tony bunts cause boo-boos as well, not to mention reduced win probability. Not sure why Tony felt the need to tell the world including opposing teams they don’t need to worry about the White Sox running.

I don’t consider fWAR valuable for projecting a pace / rest of the season (simply multiplying current fWAR by (162 / games played). Doesn’t take into account injuries and the inevitable slumps and hit streaks in a season, short changes players who started slow, exaggerates performance for a hot start. Thought it was nonsense to multiply 2020 fWAR by 2.7 to state that was the players “true” 2020 season.

Peter Gammons had a great article regarding injuries. The primary culprits are: 1. Hitters replacing typical baseball activity with ridiculous max effort launch angle swings (oblique injuries the primary result). 2. Emphasis on max pitch velocity vs. the craft of pitching. https://theathletic.com/2612663/2021/05/27/gammons-the-injury-epidemic-is-robbing-baseball-of-its-stars-and-its-causes-run-deep/?amp#click=https://t.co/MrAy6mVGom In terms of “fixing” the game, a few easy fixes are: 1. Universal DH (prevents pitcher injuries, improves offense). 2. 20 second pitch clock (prevents pitchers ramping up for max velocity, and speeds game). 3. 1B Softball Safety bag, larger 2B and 3B bags (reduces collusions and base running injuries). 4. Lower the pitching mound (far better than pushing back the number, which has a good chance of backfiring based on additional injuries and unintended consequences of additional pitch break). Harder fix: What to do about foreign substances (confiscate balls, lab testing, significant suspensions).

I’ll project the Game 2 lineup: 2B Madrigal C Grandal 3B Moncada 1B Abreu DH Mercedes LF Vaughn RF Garcia SS Mendick CF Hamilton Can also see Tony considering resting Yoan or Nick, depending on how the first game goes.

My picks SS L. Appling; 2B E. Collins; DH F. Thomas; 1B J. Abreu; LF M. Minoso; 3B R. Ventura; RF M. Ordonez; C C. Fisk; CF F. Jones. Bench: INF N. Fox; INF L. Aparicio; OF J. Jackson; C R. Schalk. Staff: 1. E. Walsh; 2. T. Lyons; 3. R. Faber; 4. M. Buehrle; 5. C. Sale. Bullpen: B. Pierce & W. Wood. Differences w CBS: Lineup: P. Konerko; H. Baines; N. Fox. Bench: A. J. Pierzynski; O. Guillen; J. Abreu. Pitchers: J. McDowell & B. Thigpen.

Agreed. Shields had negative fWAR except for his final season, and missed close to a half season. Keuchel dropped off from last year but still positive at 0.2. I thought Keuchel was overpayed and didn’t (still don’t) want him to vest in 2023, but he is giving the team by and large what was expected. 5+ innings, 2-3 runs per outing. Even a 4.5 ERA is valuable in this year with limitations on Kopech, Crochet. Cease and Rodon also need to carefully navigate this full year based on previous innings pitched and Rodon’s injury history.

It’s fair to say Mercedes has had a huge drop off in May (OPS .666 through yesterday). It’s clear pitchers have made successful adjustments, but that doesn’t mean Yermin can’t adjust back as he did after working with Menechino during the series in KC. It’s as premature to write him off today as it was when posters were calling to trade Eloy to make room for Mercedes at DH in the “conundrum” thread after a few weeks. Baseball has a way of sorting itself one way or another. I’m hopeful Mercedes plays well and stays on the squad for years. If he does not, I’m grateful he carried the Sox offense in April, before other bats began to emerge in May.

Lucas has pitched well his last three starts with Collins behind the plate. I hope they continue to catch Collins with Rodon and Lucas. The post game interview of Billy Hamilton brought a smile to my face. Such a pleasure to catch most of the radio broadcast today, have missed the past two weeks due to a trip out of town. Hope they keep the line moving in Cleveland, and @WhiteSoxFan1993 kicks my ass in terms of eclipsing a six game thread winning streak this week!!!

The First Rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. Hope he didn't miss a bunt sign before his triple.

Kopech needs to be tested in the bullpen to determine whether he is healthy. Wright looked bad in Arizona, but it's really a hitting environment and if he can continue consistent performances in Charlotte, he may be worth a shot if needed down the road. Crochet has only gone more than 1 IP twice this season, and once over 26 pitches in any appearance. Unless they plan on stretching him a bit later in the season, or use him as an opener, he would need to build more stamina to be expected to give more than 1-2 innings. I don't expect Lambert to pitch more than 2-3 innings based on the fact he hasn't gone deep this year in his starts.

Glad Lamb had a few good games this year, but too much hype over a NRI player using ratios over 49 PAs. When Engel returns, he should be playing on a regular basis. People loved/love trashing McCann for having protected at bats the prior two years, and he covered a majority (2019) or nearly half (2020) of all games, plus serving as the defacto pitching coach and the great game calling and handling of Lucas and other younger pitchers. A start a week for a defensive cipher / DH only type (the way Oakland used him) is more than enough. There is a reason Tony only played him 4 full games (going 0-16) over the first 2 months, pulling him both for defensive purposes and cherry picking at bats to avoid facing fresh relievers and non platoon advantage at bats.

Yes, but Jimmy also has 23 K / 6 BB in 11.2 IP. They brought him up last time, but snuck in Kopech. Hope they don't push Kopech unless he's 100% to do the same tomorrow. Lopez has gone deeper in his starts (3 starts 11 IP vs. Jimmy's 5 starts), and has an 11 K / 3 BB ratio. Mike Wright has been their best starter by far in their first month, with a 29 K / 6 BB ratio and 2.74 ERA in 4 starts / 23 IP. Perhaps he'll get a call up at some point if he can keep this up.

Good news regarding Eaton, hopeful more to come regarding Kopech. James Fegan @JRFegan Michael Kopech is expected to rejoin the team today, says Tony La Russa. They’ll have a better idea of how his leg is doing once he’s back. La Russa says Adam Eaton should play tomorrow.

Marcell Ozuna arrested for domestic violence against his wife. Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna was arrested Saturday after Sandy Springs officers reported seeing him choke his wife, throw her against a wall and strike her with the cast on his broken fingers. https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-braves-marcell-ozuna-arrested-by-sandy-springs-police/UNGRREUJENFB7G25UA6LAQHXMA/

Both results are consistent with their strengths (starters) and weaknesses (bullpen) over the first two months.

Current and likely ongoing results the likely scenario. Danny Mendick gone Fans want Jake “The Franchise” Lamb gone

This asinine statement has been posted multiple times since last October. I have not read a single post on this forum by anyone stating they want the Sox to lose, or are rooting against the White Sox, because it means Tony also loses. Perhaps the Tony bots can read these secret messages via their tin foil hats. This never happened, no Sox fan here wants the Sox to lose. Many want Tony gone, but they want the team to succeed despite the fact Tony is here, and for the team to overcome the dumbass decisions and confusion about the rules of MLB he has made over the first several weeks. To say otherwise is as dishonest as Tony was after his first DUI arrest, when Tony stated this would never occur again. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/11/09/tony-larussa-dui/

The sign has no space between La Russa. Wonder if that was a gaff or intentional, like A. J. Hinch’s signature on there like Tony’s press release.

If would like to assume Hahn, Katz and Lynn are at least reasonably comfortable with him going on short rest with a limited pitch count. That said, a Lopez call up gives him a chance to prove if he’s had an any progress the past few months, to give him confidence if a pitcher goes down and he needs to fill in for multiple starts, and allows him to work personally with Katz. Don’t see any team going all season with 6 total SPs, especially this season with the severe increase in games. Also wouldn’t mind seeing a six man rotation for a few weeks before or after the ASB.